It is not yet Soviet Russia, Rabbi:
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) – A federal judge on Monday rejected prosecutors’ request to close portions of an upcoming trial for two former pro-Israel lobbyists accused of violating the Espionage Act.
The government’s proposal to keep huge swaths of evidence in the case out of public view was unprecedented and violated both the defendants’ and the public’s right to an open trial, U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis said.
The defendants — Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, who had been lobbyists with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — are charged with illegally disclosing sensitive national defense information to persons not entitled to receive it, including journalists and foreign diplomats.
Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld of AMCHA, a Jewish organization that also filed an amicus brief at the hearing, welcomed the ruling.
“How do they propose to close the court?” Herzfeld said of the prosecution. “Is this Soviet Russia?” — JTA